Kasel Travel

DAY 1: April 17, 2013

Apparently, not all travel companies were created equal :)

Two weeks ago I received an email invitation from Vietnam Tourism Danang to its first International Travel Mart organized by Hanoi Government. Of the only three (3) companies invited from the Philippines, KASEL Travel Solutions was one of them.

The trip started with a flight via 5J 744 that left Philippines 2300 hrs. Despite time difference, the plane arrived in Hanoi at 0100 hrs (0200 hrs Philippine time). Immigration process was smooth; we were not required to fill up any arrival form. Exiting the airport, meeting point was very easy. Without effort, I saw my pick up of a private car of Vietnam Tourism.

Arriving the The Prestige hotel by 0200 hrs, my heart pumped with excitement as I started to visualize the activities of early morning. Near the main tourist spot of Hanoi called West Lake, The Prestige Hotel is a 4-star category with modern room of excellent broadband and high-speed WIFI connections, the clean hotel is a highly recommended place to stay for leisure and business trips.

Travel Expert,

Eric Papa
President, KASEL Travel

Day 2: April 18,2013

The alarm sounded at 0600 hrs Hanoi time. After a few minutes, I received a wonderful text message from my eternal partner. Another 5 minutes later, hotel phone rang. The hotel front desk reminded me for the wake up call.

I started the day with a sumptuous breakfast. As a 4 star hotel, I was very satisfied with the spread of the breakfast, especially how they cooked the bacon and eggs. I am a bacon guy and I usually rate a hotel with the way they cook and prepare their bacon :) 9 points for the breakfast! It combined Vietnamese and western cuisines - very tasty and mouth-watery. It made my first work-day energetic and complete despite a lack of sleep.

At exactly 7:30 am we proceeded to the International Center for Exhibition Hanoi. The anticipated traffic was, contrary to expectation, much bearable. Hanoi's traffic is much lighter than Ho Chi Minh City.

The program started with a vietnamese musical presentation followed by a welcome remarks by the Deputy Minister of Hanoi on Sports and Tourism. The event went on with a meet and greet between sellers and buyers. The exhibitors were composed of NTO's, hoteliers, airlines and travel agents for both inbound and outbound destinations.

Surprisingly, Vietnamese tourists are similar in a lot of ways to Philippine tourists as they also pursue travel routes to Korea, Singapore, Hongkong, Bangkok, Pattaya and other Asian destinations. Likewise, Vietnamese travelers are becoming very young and are excited for new destinations such as Europe, USA, Canada and the Middle East. Hanoi has a lot of potentials for growth in both inbound and outbound travel.

See you again in my next blog.

Your Travel Expert,

Eric Papa
President, KASEL Travel

DAY 2

Booked at a 4* hotel in Hanoi, Prestige Hotel is one of the official hotels of VITM. This is the first exhibition for International Travel arranged by Hanoi Government.